1. Technical Field
The present invention relates, in general, to an improved wireless communications system. In particular, the present invention relates to an improved wireless communications system in which the risk of illicitly intercepted communications service is reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cordless telephone systems are well-known in the prior art. A cordless telephone system generally includes a portable cordless handset and a cordless base station which is connected to a telephone company phone system by a landline. The cordless base station has an assigned landline telephone number that allows users to place and receive calls utilizing the cordless portable handset within a limited range of the cordless portable base station, such as within a home or office. However, due to the limited range present within such systems, a cordless portable handset provides the user with only relatively local radio-telephone communication.
Radio-telephone communication outside the range of a cordless telephone system also can be provided to users via cellular telephone systems. Cellular radio is a radiotelephone communications system that began to develop rapidly in the early 1980s. Basically, cellular radio is a small-scale, "cellular" version of the communication linkage provided by large radio-broadcasting systems. In a cellular telephone system, a geographical area is divided into smaller units, called cells. Each cell can have a radius of about 13 to 19 km (8 to 12 mi). In addition, each cell contains its own small radio transceiver. If necessary, each cell can be further subdivided into smaller cells. In this way, a honeycomb pattern of cells is formed such that each cell can repeatedly utilize the same range of radio frequencies without interfering with one another, so long as neighboring cells do not utilize precisely the same radio channels. Persons equipped with mobile communication devices such as small mobile cellular telephones can utilize this cellular telephone system in the same way that telephone calls are performed utilizing standard carriers.
Computerized switching is essential to the operation of cellular radio, so that when mobile-unit calls are switched from one cell to the next, the transfer in channels can take place without interruption, or at most a brief delay. The growth of electronic switching systems and the development of microprocessors have made such computerized switching possible. For each area to be covered by cellular radio, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licenses different types of organizations. For example, one type organization must be a telephone company, while another, a business that agrees to construct the necessary radio system. In recent years, the FCC has awarded newer frequency bands that also utilize cellular technology.
A cellular telephone system typically includes cellular subscriber units that may be mobile or portable, and cellular base stations that are connected to the public telephone company via one or more cellular switching networks. Each cellular subscriber has an assigned cellular telephone number that allows the user to place and receive calls within a widespread range of the cellular base stations, such as throughout a metropolitan area. Cellular telephone systems are thus based on a structure of associated cells. Each cell constitutes a specified geographic area that (a) is defined for a specific mobile communications system; and (b) has its own base station and a single controller interconnected with a public telephone network. Cellular telephone systems are particularly advantageous in providing cellular mobile service, a communications service that allow users to access a telephone network from a stationary or moving vehicle, via a combination of radio transmission and telephone switching. Cellular mobile services typically provide communications links to the user by segmenting a large geographic area into many smaller areas (i.e., cells). As a user passes from cell to cell, the cellular mobile service allows calls in progress to be handed over without interruption to adjacent base stations.
Users often desire to make toll calls via mobile communication devices, such as cellular telephones. In public switched telephone systems, including those that incorporate mobile cellular telephone systems, a toll is a charge for a connection to a central office or a user end instrument that is beyond a call originator exchange boundary. The amount of a toll (i.e., toll call) is usually based on various factors, such as distance, the number of exchanges utilized, duration of the call, time of day, locations of call originator and call receiver, type or class of service, and extent of utilization. Although a user may desire to make a toll call to a cellular telephone, the carrier (i.e., the company handling the cellular telephone call) may be exposed to fraud if it allows a toll call to proceed, particularly in long-distance dialing cases. Cellular signals can be easily intercepted because of the availability of cellular networks over wide geographic areas.
Several solutions have been proposed to handle the potential illicit interception of cellular telephone service and resulting fraudulent actions by unscrupulous intermediaries. The first solution is simply to permit no toll calls at all. This solution is limited because it does not allow flexibility for users or subscribers of mobile cellular telephone services. This solution is thus unrealistic and unprofitable for cellular carriers to implement. Another solution is to allow a mobile user to make local toll calls only, but not international toll calls. This solution reduces the exposure to fraud somewhat. However, the carrier and the user are still exposed to fraud derived from local phone calls. Such a method does not allow a carrier to generate revenue from legitimate mobile customers who desire to make toll calls.
Another solution is to allow a mobile cellular telephone user to make toll calls, but require some sort of an identification number, such as a PIN number, when placing a toll call. Again, exposure to the risk of fraud is reduced somewhat, but exposure remains, because the PIN number can be recorded by a fraudulent user anytime the real user of a mobile communications device places a toll call. Such a solution also requires an extra undesirable effort on the part of the user of the mobile communications device to avoid illicit interception of the PIN number.
It can be appreciated from the foregoing that a need exists for a method and system in a cellular network that allows cellular telephone users to be able to make toll calls, while reducing the risk of exposure to fraudulent cellular network interceptors. Such a method and system, if implemented successfully, would limit the ability of individuals to illicitly steal the cellular telephone service of an originating cellular telephone user. For example, when an originating cellular telephone user makes a cellular telephone call, the user may be prompted, depending on the requirements of a particular cellular telephone company, to input an account number or password. The cost of the cellular communications transaction is then credited to this account number, to which the user must later pay funds.
If, however, the cellular telephone call is intercepted illicitly at the moment the user punches the account number into the cellular telephone keypad, the account number may then be in effect "stolen," and the user or cellular telephone company forced to recoup the cost of any losses suffered as a result of this theft. Such an illicit operation is often referred to in the art of cellular telephone technology as "cloning." In this situation, the illicit interceptor (i.e., cloner) utilizes illicitly accessed mobile cellular telephone identification information in an effort to fool the cellular telephone system into the belief that the cloner is the "real" mobile cellular telephone, when in fact the cloner is not. The fraud perpetrated on the mobile cellular telephone user or cellular carrier is that the cloner pretends to be the mobile cellular telephone user placing the toll call. Either the mobile cellular telephone user or the cellular carrier will have to pay the charges related to the toll call made by the cloner.
Thus, it can be seen that a need exists for a method and system that would prevent or at the very least, lessen the chances of such an unfortunate event occurring. With respect to the foregoing need, the inventor is aware of no attempts to date which have been directed toward satisfying the foregoing identified need.